The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction

摘要

Let's start with the conclusion: The Audible Past is a highly original contribution to the new field of sound studies, and a must-read for the growing number of scholars who combine an interest in the history of technology with an interest in media studies. What's more: it is a book for everyone willing to read something inspiring. Jonathan Sterne calls his book a "deliberately speculative" history of sound reproduction (p. 27). Yet any historian of technology who might feel the inclination to skip the book because "speculative" is exactly what s/he dislikes in media studies should do the opposite. The only thing speculative about Sterne's book is its episodic character. It examines practices of sound recording, techniques of listening, and dreams about the power of sound between the 1870s and the 1920s. It does so by focusing on topics as diverse as the origins of the "phonautograph," the stethoscope, sound telegraphy, headsets, the phonograph, the telephone, studio work, tone tests, and the idea of preservation of sound in everyday life and anthropology. The episodes themselves are very well researched. What makes the book most valuable, however, are Sterne's statements about the culture of sound, all based on a thoughtful combination of STS and media theory, a close reading of (mainly American) sources, and philosophical freshness.